If I jumped out from behind the shower curtain whilst you were washing your hair and said, “What do you sell?”, what would you do (other than call the police)?

“Accounting”, you may respond.

“Coaching”, you may say.

“Public speaking training”, you may mumble.

Well my friends, let me tell you: this is not what you sell.

This is what you do. The process. The recipe. The duck and orange on your Duck a L'Orange.

And if you are stuck selling the process you will never fully communicate the value you can offer, the impact you can make on other people's lives.

And you will never achieve the belief necessary for the final piece in the Sales Mindset series: Assertiveness.

Assertiveness Starts With Belief

Assertiveness consists of your beliefs: Belief in the big end result, belief in your expertise, and belief in how you can help.

1. Believe in the big end result: Sell the Sparkle

Instead of thinking in terms of the process, think in terms of the outcome. The big end result.

You don’t sell accounting; you sell one free Sunday every month.

You don’t sell coaching; you sell a promotion.

You don’t sell public speaking training; you sell a standing ovation.

Stop thinking about how you do it and start thinking about why they want it.

Believe in the sparkle in their eye as they visualise a better world working with you. Believe, fully, in the big end result your offer brings and let it shine out. Once you believe in this, assertiveness comes naturally. After all, you are recommending something you confidently believe will make their world a better place.

2. GO PRO (Believe you’re an expert)

Let me ask you a question and I want you to answer truthfully:

Are you an expert in your field?

If there was even the slightest hint of hesitation in answering that then need to have a long hard look at your belief.

If you do not think of yourself as an expert, this will come across in every conversation you have with a potential client. If you do not believe it, good luck persuading a paying client.

Experts get treated differently. They command respect, credibility and a much (much) larger pay cheque. You don’t mess with an expert. Their time is precious.

You don’t have to work for a million hours to be an expert. This is all about belief in your abilities, not certificates on your wall or trophies in your cupboard.

Find your unique expertise and wear it like a shining badge on your chest.

Whatever it is, know it, live it, breathe it, command it.

3. Believe You Can Help

If you have adopted the mindsets we covered in previous articles, then assertiveness is so easy.

Why? Because, when you fully believe you can help, when you are asking the client to move forward with good intent, and when you are detached from the outcome, then you understand it is in the client’s interests to move forward and, so, you are naturally confident enough to help them make that decision.